Music Of My Mind

About

By 1972, Stevie Wonder was already established as Motown’s in-house <i>wunderkind</i>. He’d released a stunning 13 studio albums for the legendary label before he was 21—including a 1963 live album titled <i>The 12 Year Old Genius</i>. As the 1970s dawned, however, Wonder began chafing at the creative restraints imposed upon him by the famously restrictive Motown founder Berry Gordy, and followed labelmate Marvin Gaye in negotiating a new contract, one that gave Wonder full creative control over his music, as well as the opportunity to experiment—both musically and politically. The back cover of <i>Music of My Mind</i> even includes a declaration of independence: “Stevie Wonder comes of age…Now he’s free,” it read, before noting “this album is virtually the work of one man.” To be sure, <i>Music</i> was nowhere near as revolutionary as Gaye’s <i>What’s Going On</i>. At this point in his artistic evolution, Wonder’s newly untethered imagination was focused mostly on his exuberance (and worry) regarding his new marriage to singer-songwriter Syreeta Wright. Still, the album does find him pushing his ultramodern musical gizmos to their limits: On the seven-and-a-half-minute opener “Love Having You Around,” Wonder engineers a joyous and funky robot romanticism from the talk box and Moog ba, both of which accompany his trademark clavinet. .

via Apple Music

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